1st Edition

Pain, Normality, and the Struggle for Congruence Reinterpreting Residential Care for Children and Youth

By James P Anglin Copyright 2002
    200 Pages
    by Routledge

    198 Pages
    by Routledge

    Learn what children living in group homes need most!

    Pain, Normality, and the Struggle for Congruence: Reinterpreting Residential Care for Children and Youth presents the results of a 14-month study of 10 staffed group homes in British Columbia. The book uses grounded theory to construct a theoretical model that speaks to the primary challenge care workers face each day—responding to pain and pain-based behavior in residents. It combines participant observations, transcribed interviews, and document analysis to develop a core theme of congruence, several major psychosocial processes, and 11 interactional dynamics identified as being fundamental to group home life. The study brings to light several neglected aspects of residential care and proposes new directions in policy development, education, practice, and research to create an integrated and accessible framework for understanding group home life for youths.

    Pain, Normality, and the Struggle for Congruence: Reinterpreting Residential Care for Children and Youth is a full and rigorous examination of the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of residential group care. The study—conducted during a time of heightened sensitivity to the rights of children and increased emphasis on accountability and outcome measurement—reveals a core theme of congruence, focusing on consistency, reciprocity, and coherence. The book examines the major elements of this theme, including:

    • creating an extra-familial living environment
    • developing a sense of normality
    • listening and responding with respect
    • establishing a structure, routine, and expectations
    • offering emotional and developmental support
    • respecting personal space and time
    • discovering potential
    • communicating a framework for understanding
    • and much more!
    Pain, Normality, and the Struggle for Congruence: Reinterpreting Residential Care for Children and Youth provides professionals concerned with the development and treatment of children and young people with a unique understanding of group home life and work.


    From the Foreword, by Dr. Barney Glaser:
    I am honored and delighted to be asked by Jim Anglin to write the foreword to this grounded theory text... The purpose of this grounded theory is to construct a theoretical framework that would explain and account for well-functioning staffed group homes for young people, that in turn could serve as a basis for improved practice, policy development, education and training, research, and evaluation. THE READER WILL SEE THAT ANGLIN HAS ACHIEVED HIS GOAL WITH ADMIRABLE SUCCESS. . . . HIS GROUNDED THEORY TRULY MAKES A SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTION TO THE LITERATURE.

    • Foreword
    • Preface
    • Acknowledgments
    • Introduction
    • Chapter 1. Historical and Contemporary Issues in Residential Care for Children and Youth
    • Chapter 2. The Staffed Group Home Study: Research Method and Implementation
    • Chapter 3. A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Group Home Life and Work
    • Chapter 4. Congruence in Service of the Children’s Best Interests: The Central Theme of Group Home Life and Work
    • Chapter 5. Creating an Extrafamilial Living Environment: The Overall Task of a Group Home
    • Chapter 6. Responding to Pain and Pain-Based Behaviour: The Major Challenge for Staff
    • Chapter 7. Developing a Sense of Normality: The Primary Goal for Residents
    • Chapter 8. Through the Lens of the Theoretical Framework: A Review of Selected Residential Child and Youth Care Literature
    • Chapter 9. Implications for New Directions in Child and Youth Care Policy Development, Education, Practice, and Research
    • References
    • Index

    Biography

    James P Anglin